The majority of elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, colleges and recreation centers have a gymnasium in which is located one or a number of basketball goals. The basketball goals include a backboard and the rim through which the basketball passes. Many gyms have goals, not only at each end of a basketball court, but in multiple positions along the side of a basketball court. Thus, a full court basketball game can be played, and during physical education classes or at other times, the basketball goals at the sides of the basketball court can provide more locations for basketball to be played.
In these school gymnasiums, other sports are played besides basketball. These might be part of physical education classes, or they might be classes taught by the school; they could be intramural games, or other situations that might require nets to be placed on the floor of the basketball court. Some of these net games might include volleyball, badminton, pickle ball, and other games which require a net to be erected.
The present method of erecting nets for net sports on the gymnasium floor involves standards which are inserted into sleeves in the floor or, portable standards placed on the floor of the basketball court. These portable standards typically have a large base which sits on the floor and which has a good deal of weight in the base to prevent tipping over of the net standard. Attached to the base is a long pole which extends up off of the gymnasium floor to the height required for a particular net based game. The net is attached to the standard by various means, such as holes in the pole, or by loops or other tie off points at which the corners of the net are attached. The standards, with their attached counterweight, can have wheels and may be tippable onto the wheels so that they can be moved on or off the court and into storage.
Since two standards are required for every net game, storage of the standards can be quite bulky, and setting up and tearing down nets and their standards can be time consuming and laborious.
Another problem with the net standards of the prior art is that the net standards may be pulled over by players of the game, and once a net standard has passed the tipping point, it may fall down and strike a player with resultant injuries.
What is needed is a net standard which is easily assembled, which eliminates the possibility of tipping over on a player, which is less expensive than the existing standards, and one which is stored more compactly than existing net standard bases.